Between the Asymptote

Chapter 2

My alarm broke the silence of the morning. My hands stretched to reach for it to shut it down at exactly eight. As my eyes opened to welcome the glare of the sun, I realized there was only today and tomorrow left before classes got back in action. I had to know how to spend the rest of the remaining day I had. I got feet off from bed and had the stove on for cooking. I had to heat water for morning coffee and had to cook eggs and toast for breakfast. I looked outside the window to see a few buildings lined up, leading towards the coast. The sun felt soothing to the skin, and the color of the sky looked like it was painted.

“Good day for a stroll.” I said to myself as I closed the curtains and got ready. It wasn’t a bad idea to leave all the worries and the bad thoughts about college under the rug for a while. I wanted to experience the town a little bit more. I put on my jeans, my blue cotton hoody, and a good pair of sneakers. I was hoping that the alarm got me off the right side of the bed today.

I usually plan out my day before leaving. This was the only one when I didn’t have a plan at all. It would be one of those days when you just realized you wanted peace of mind. I got my keys and went downstairs, locking the door. The wind outside carried the scent of the salty waters, paired with the natural cool breeze of the morning. I hopped in the truck and took the first left turn. Yorkfield was the tiniest town of the south, but that was what made it stand out. What happens here, was the complete opposite I would get in a normal city. Rush hours never happen here and the town didn’t find room for it. Everytime I went to a diner, it was either only me, or five other people dining as well. Traffic was unheard of in this part of the state and was too impossible to happen. Locals are devoted to peace and would never pick a fight over a drink of booze. Because of the minimal population, at this time in the morning, you’d even hear yourself breathing. In the latest census, the number of locals in Yorkfield was at 528, and that didn’t include me. I’d drive to school and get back recalling seeing the same face on the way. Yorkfield wasn’t rich, but neither was it poor. The potential to promote and increase the number of customers and inhabitants was surely possible, but it was as if the town didn’t agree with the quote ‘the more the merrier’. It was a wonder as to how the businesses never filed for bankruptcy despite the few number of customers they had to cater to everyday. Sheriff’s patrolled the roads at night and would only take two patrol teams to secure the town. That is how tiny Yorkfield is.

The only college in town was the Great Yorkfield College, the college that I was enrolled in. There were lots of students but were not mostly locals. Parents from other cities would suggest GYC if the budget was tight. It was the cheapest in the State and provided lots of career choices for a freshmen like I was last year. Bachelor’s in Education was one of the easiest choices for mom and dad at that time and was the very reason why I decided to pursue it as well. Being a professor seemed like a good career path to walk on. It was like a dream for me to be able to get mad at the students for once in no apparent reason. Just like most professors do. The college stood firm fourteen years ago and continues to improve up to this day. Teachers are competitive, trustworthy, and the service they provided to the college was undoubtedly professional. When my mom told me about it, I never even believed there would be a swimming pool, a track and field circuit, a basketball court and a mini football field in it. When I arrived, I figured mom wasn’t making a fool out of me. The board of directors allowed the students to park their vehicles inside the college if they did have. The reason was because of the few number of teachers that worked in GYC and the small number of registered vehicles in town.

As I was approaching the road to the college, I had to step on the brakes so hard that the tires screeched before finally coming to a complete stop. Luckily, it was too early and the sheriff’s might’ve been somewhere important, or else I might’ve been handed a ticket. A guy wearing reading glasses and had slightly curled hair surprisingly went a few meters in my way. He was fortunate enough that I saw him with enough time to stop. It wasn’t just an unfamiliar face as the guy hopped on my hood and looked directly at me from the windshield.

“Follow me!” He said from outside and I could see what he was saying but the sound was being blocked by the windshield that separated me from him. It was David Kemp. Amir, David and I attend GYC on the same level and shared the same degree as well. David was one of the locals in Yorkfield. His parents found jobs within town and was performing at his best knowing his family was just where he needed them to be. He also had a ten year old brother whom he really disliked. The reason was that his brother either ate his breakfast, or messed up his research paper.

“What’s wrong with you?” I said, poking my head out from the driver’s window. He slowly slid down from the hood of the truck and walked towards my window.

“Follow me, I’ll show you something” He answered running towards the college gates as if I haven't heard him the first time. I parked inside and walked a little bit faster to catch up with him who waited for me on the stairway to the entrance.

“You shouldn’t have done that. I could’ve easily killed you” I said to him.

“I know you wouldn’t” He answered as I sighed in his answer.

“What was it you were going to show me anyway?” I asked him as he pointed right towards the gymnasium. “You’re going to love it” He said, moving towards the gymnasium doors. I had no clue what he was up to, but most of the time, David would just be playing around. As we entered the gym, he looked towards the blinding light from the ceiling. It was the cheerleaders club, rehearsing for the upcoming opening. David’s eyes were stuck on one of the cheerleaders. That girl was a flyer and his eyes followed her from every jump and fall as her skirt followed the trail of the wind.

“Hey Dave” I said, patting his back. He was obviously amazed by the sight, like a heavenly body just appeared before him.

“She’s amazing” He said, his eyes were still stuck on her. The glare made it difficult for me to identify who it was.

“Wasn’t Catherine your biggest crush last year?” He asked, finally facing me. Now I figured why he had to drag me here. Catherine Thomspon was a Business student that had like a two year gap from us. She would consider us little brothers if given the chance. Her skin was smooth and had long brown hair. Her blue eyes was something you would have a hard time avoiding.

“That was last year Dave” I answered.

“So you had a change of heart?”

“No? I just-” “Well that means you still like her, end of story” He said nodding his head, forcing me to agree to his pointless statement.

“You’ve got problems you know that” I replied.

“We all got problems Clyde, and you my friend have a big problem of not approaching your biggest crush” The cheerleaders rehearsal was over and Catherine had started to walk towards us. A group of football athletes came from behind. They had a bad reputation for stealing the moment and demoralizing non-athletes.

“Hi boys” Catherine said passing by. David opened his mouth, surprised by the greeting he assumed easily. “Did she just say hi to us?” David asked in pure surprise as he slowly faced me. I know she didn’t, it was the athletes right behind us she was referring to.

“In your dreams Kemp, in your dreams” One of the athletes said as a burst of laughter filled the gym. They went past us and did some ridiculous gestures. David clenched his fists and walked a meter towards them as I held his shoulder and dragged him out.

“These guys really think they’re something” He said in anger.

“Yeah, well they are, and they’re twice our size” I said to him, as he calmed down and had seemed to have gotten my point. We made our way towards the field. We nestled ourselves on the bench, fronting the open yard of grass. Amir was walking towards us, carrying his bag and a frowned face.

“Here comes Aladdin” David whispered and giggled. Amir stopped right in front of us.

“Hello there Aladdin” David said, making fun of Amir’s accent. David’s impression had me laughing for a few seconds. “Alright, now that’s officially racism, I’m going to the guidance office” Amir answered, annoyed.

“He’s just kidding Amir, get over it.” I said to acknowledge his annoyance. He sighed and sat beside me. “What’s with the heavy face?” David asked him.

“I got a C-” He answered looking at the printed grading report slip.

“Your dad’s not going to spank you for that is he?” I asked.

“It’s still passed” David added.

“I know, and he’s not going to spank me” He said looking at us.

“Then what’s wrong?” I continued. He looked as if he was wondering.

“Haven’t you heard?” He asked back.

“What?” David queried.

“We’re going to have an anniversary ball” He said. David and I reacted in excitement. The anniversary ball was a celebration announced last year, but was indefinite whether it was going to push through or not. The anniversary ball was to be held at the end of the class year, and it was surely going to be a blast. David and I started talking about what was going to happen and who the dates were going to be. I honestly didn’t have plans for a date. Amir was still frowning and shook his head. “Isn’t that supposed to be good news?” I asked him.

“Look, I mean literally look, is someone going to date me?” He said as I literally looked at him. He might’ve dressed odd but he wasn’t as bad looking. It was just his shorts, uncombed hair and baggy orange shirt that made it look, well, old school.

“Hey, hey … I don’t know what to say, I"m sorry I’m not good at building self-esteem” David said, attempting to resolve, but he knew he wasn’t good at it at all.

“We’re going to help you on that dude, don’t worry, we’ll fix you up” I said, not knowing if the words I used were offensive to him.

“You mean I’m broken Clyde? Is that what you’re saying?”

“No no, I mean, your clothes, uhm, hair, we’ll get you ready for it. We got a long time to prepare for it” I said to him. He nodded and smiled.

“You’re great dude, but the dinner you gave me last night wasn’t enough for the two hour shift I had you covered” He answered as I smirked.

“But fix me for the ball and your debt is paid” He answered as we all laughed. I seemed to have good friends, ones that I could trust and could laugh with. Hanging out was normal to us, even during the days when classes would start. I decided to continue driving around town, and they insisted to come with me. Yorkfield was tiny as stated, but you’ll rarely run out of places to go. Everyday there’s somewhere nice to hang out. We drove past La Costa road down to Pine Acres and back to where there was a good place to have lunch. Jack’s Burgers was what we agreed on. They had the best fries and burgers for an afternoon break. We found a good spot on the corner of the diner’s entrance.

“What’s your plan for the opening?” David asked as he chomped through the large chunk of meat on the burger he had on his hand.

“What plan? Do we need to plan?” Amir asked, and I was sure that I would agree with his question. There was nothing to prepare for the opening of classes, everything should just be as it is.

“I mean, how would you deal with the stress? You know how the sophomores looked” David added, biting a chunk off once more. He was referring to the pressure that caused the sophomores to look twice as tired compared to the freshmen when they step out of their classrooms.

“I think it’s a matter of getting the right pace in studying” I said with fries in my mouth.

“I’m not very eager to study as you are and you know that” Amir said sipping the soda.

“Well you have to study double when you’re a sophomore, you’d never want to see a D in your grading report would you” David made his point.

“We must have a goal” I said to both of them. They looked and thought about it for a while before the conversation resumed.

“I’ll be a professor in D.C when I graduate” David said with utmost honesty. He knew exactly what he wanted.

“I’ll go back to India and be a CEO” Amir said.

“You’re taking up Education dude, you think that’s going to work?” David answered him.

“Wait and see brother” Amir answered.

“How about you Clyde?” He asked me. I was quiet for a bit, and sometimes I tend to ask this question for myself. What was my goal?

“Go back to New Jersey and be with mom I guess” It was the best answer I could possibly think of at the moment.

“That’s sweet” David replied.

“College can be tiring often, sometimes I just think I was trapped in a Nazi camp where the battle was to study hard” He added. I knew his point and I felt the same way. The busyness of a student felt much more hectic than working. David grabbed his bag and stood up.

“I gotta get home” He said with both fistbumps for us.

“See you around, enjoy your workday” He said leaving the door, slightly teasing.

“We got to leave as well, we don’t want to be late for work” Amir reminded me as we left the diner.

“You’re not going to leave work early again are you?” He said, putting his hand on my shoulder.